About Me

I am a historian specializing in the political culture of late 18th century America, so I actually DO know what this country was founded upon, as opposed to the AM radio hosts and halfwit politicians who routinely make this claim. I don't get enough sleep, non-lethal food or exercise, and this is entirely my fault. I live in a house full of women - even the cats are girls. If you see me lost on the street, just point me to the nearest bookstore and call my wife to come pick me up. Thanks.

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All views expressed on this blog are mine, do you hear, mine MINE MINE! All mine! Mwahahahaha! Any resemblance to the views of my family members, friends and acquaintances is always greatly appreciated but probably more than I could hope for.

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david4q10d [squiggly "at" thingie] charter [dot] net

Sunday, June 11, 2017

A New Milestone

We are officially out of Mighty Clever Guy Middle School, now that Lauren graduated last week. It's a strange feeling. Lauren and Tabitha did not overlap there at all, so I have been dropping off and picking up my children from MCGMS for six years now. You kind of get used to the place.

Plus, it's been a lovely time. The staff and teachers at MCGMS have been wonderful to us, and my children have grown and learned a great deal.

Lauren really wrung every last drop from the place, too. Her list of achievements is long and if I am not careful I will go on a Parent Brag Rant that would take up most of your remaining lifespan. I can do that with both of my girls, really. I am immensely proud of them. You would be too.

Kim had to be out of town on business last week, unfortunately, so it was just me and Grandma at the ceremony. Well, us and about five hundred other family members, friends, and assorted hangers on. It's nice that these things are always so well attended here in Our Little Town.

It started with the band playing. Lauren has been doing percussion for a couple of years now, and she was jumping around from instrument to instrument as they went through their songs. She rocked the snare! Among other things! They did a nice job with the music overall - the band teacher this year was really good and she got a lot out of those kids - and you could hear it clearly, which is no small feat in a middle school gym.

The actual graduation ceremony was short and sweet, as they should be. There were a couple of student speakers, who did a good job. There was a Distinguished Alumna speaker whose speech was on point and relevant (never guaranteed at these things). The staff read through all of the graduates, each of whom got to walk up and get their certificate and be applauded. And then we were done. One hour, start to finish, not including the time that Lauren spent to help clean up which is a sign of character, really, and therefore the wait is okay.

Next year they will both be at Local Businessman High - the first time since Not Bad President Elementary that they will share a school. LBHS is close enough that I don't have to pick anyone up from school at the end of the day, though the practical realities of jacking teenagers and their parents out of bed in the morning will mean drop-offs will continue because nobody gets moving fast enough to have time to walk there. So I have made my last pick up.

I've enjoyed those pick ups. They have been time just to ourselves, to share the day or just ride in companionable silence.

4 comments:

Second: (And not sucking around for anything here ...) Just attended my second HS grad ceremony for a grandchild. Which brings me to ...

Third. While perusing the program, both my eldest daughter and my wife discovered one of the Great Mysteries of Life™:

Scholastic Regalia

Says here in the program that all of the educators robes can be read like a 'Book of Honors & Achievements" by anyone who knows what to look for. (I actually believe that. Show me a military uniform filled with ribbons and I can read the story easily. One of the reasons why incidents of stolen valor irk me so much. Don't get me started on Hollywood's abuse of military honors on uniforms in movies - it's so easy to do it right and they invariably do it, not just wrong, but horribly WRONG! ((just ask Janiece or Jim)).

Where was I? Oh, yeah ...

So wicipedeia (sic - on purpose) has a page that clears the whole regalia thing up about as clear as mud. "Academic robes and regalia identifying by color the degree, school and other distinction, are controlled under rules of a voluntary Intercollegiate Code..." <<< That's a copy & paste direct quote!

Cool- so as one who should (I presume) know about such things, can you point me somewhere to find specifics regarding all the little robes, ropes, badges, and adornments we saw on the gowns of the professors, instructors and principles at the ceremony Friday night?

In fact, I'll trade you - here's a good place to start learning about that spray of ribbons on Mel Gibbons uniform and why it's so wrong: http://www.officialmilitaryribbons.com

Well, congratulations on your grandchild's graduation! I know you weren't fishing, but seriously - that's an achievement and it should be recognized and celebrated. :)

The regalia that professors wear is likely different from the regalia that high school administrators or instructors wear, and I can only lead you to the college version. My guess is that the high school version is modeled on that, though, so perhaps it will be useful.

As a holder of a PhD in history from the University of Iowa, my regalia would look like this:

Black gown with bell-shaped sleeves indicating PhD. It is faced with black velvet, with three white velvet bars for Arts & Letters on each sleeve. My hood would be four-feet long, trimmed in white (as with the sleeves), and the inside of the hood would be black and gold for UIowa. I'd have a black velvet cap, I think, again signifying PhD. It's been a while.

I'll have to look into the military stuff. I never served and even I get angry at stolen valor. It takes a certain kind of moral bankruptcy to claim service when it isn't yours.

Thank you. That is precisely what I was looking for. My wife (which my spell checker thinks is also my whip) and daughter are currently burrowing down the wabbit "whole".

I really do hate my spell checker. I type just fast enough to be three words ahead at the time it re-spells my words. I frequently fail to do an adequate job of proof-reading prior to hitting the post button.

I will, however, award 3 brownie points with a gold star for what it did to Mel Gibson's name above.